It’s been 22 years since 15-month-old Michaela Howie and her parents, Cameron and Shannon, died in a head-on collision on Condamine Street in Manly Vale.
The Dee Why family was instantly killed when a man suffering an apparent epileptic fit drove into several vehicles, causing a head on collision with the young family. This man was later found guilty on three counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, because he had repeatedly failed to tell the then Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) about his epilepsy. He was sentenced to seven years prison.
On Monday we joined Michaela’s grandparents – Shannon’s mother Dympna Hanniffy, Cameron’s sister Vanessa Glastonbury and his parents Max and Diana Howie, at the Dee Why playground named in the toddler’s memory.
We shared a discussion on grief, and how it is seldom linear. Yes it had been over 20 years but there were still days when the wound feels fresh, Diana Howie explained.
“Gradually you learn to live your life again but it’s always there. People talk about closure but there is no such thing as closure in my books, not really. But there are lovely things, like this (pointing to the playground), and we have lovely memories and we hold on those,” she says, with Max gently nodding in agreement.
Sister Vanessa described it as a day of “mixed emotions.” “It’s mixed emotions as the ache of loss is always present but it is also a joy to see other little children enjoying the playground and heart-warming to feel that the memory of our family does not fade.”
“The ache of loss is always present but it is also a joy to see other little children enjoying the playground.”
Shannon, who was 29 at the time of her death, loved to take Michaela to a little park across the road from their home on Howard Avenue in Dee Why. It’s where they celebrated her first, and last, birthday. They were a joyful family full of life and creative pursuits. In fact, five generations of the Howie family had ties to the area, Max explained.
“Michaela’s great-great-grandfather was a local member. And when I was young lad, we’d visit my grandparents who lived here just around the corner there. It would take us two hours by bus from Epping to get down here and again to get home, many memories and connections here.”
The family does visit the playground on occasion, the couple explained, and they love that their granddaughter is remembered and honoured with the playground named after her – a movement led by Cameron’s mates from school (Knox Grammar), and funded by Warringah Council in 2004.
“Yes I think this is one of the most beautiful locations for a playground. I see this as a reward for our suffering,” Max said.
The playground itself had become well-worn after two decades and has just been renewed – with some delay after an asbestos discovery. It was officially re-opened by Mayor Sue Heins alongside Manly MP James Griffin and Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Public Spaces Stephen Bali on Monday, with the Howie family and friends present.
The new play space includes two new swing sets, and two new play structures with a slide, platform, climbing frames and fireman’s pole.
To encourage imaginative play it also has a boat, a fishing rod and a friendly dolphin.
There is new bench seating and shade, and the inclusion of both real and synthetic grasses.
The project was funded by the NSW Government in association with the Council.
Want to see the new playground but can’t make a visit yet? Check out this round-up on Engage Northern Beaches.
